5.  In January 2008, investigators from the French Central Office for the Prevention of Drug-Trafficking (OCRTIS), a body attached to the Central Police Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior, noticed that a number of Greek nationals suspected of drug-trafficking were passing through Roissy Airport on their way to West Africa, including Z., who had been convicted of similar offences in the past and was being monitored. OCRTIS was subsequently informed that Z. had chartered a vessel, the Junior, which was generally used for coastal shipping along the ports in the region, and that this ship had been using a sea lane identified as being that habitually followed by drug traffickers. Furthermore, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) had been monitoring the Junior for several months. OCRTIS requested the assistance of the French Navy after having consulted the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre – Narcotics.
6.  At 1.30 p.m. on 7 February 2008 a French Navy vessel, the helicopter carrier Tonnerre, intercepted the Junior. A press release from the Maritime Prefect for the Atlantic seaboard, entitled “Interception of a boat transporting drugs off Africa”, gave the following account of the operation:
“On 7 February, on orders from the Maritime Prefect for the Atlantic seaboard, the projection and command vessel Tonnerre, which is responsible for ensuring a permanent French Navy presence along the West African coast, intercepted a ship suspected of engaging in drug-trafficking.
The Tonnerre had been reinforced for this operation with a Navy patrol team. The operation was carried out on the basis of intelligence from and at the request of OCRTIS (the French Central Office for the Prevention of Drug-Trafficking), by agreement with the Maritime Analysis Operation Centre – Narcotics (MAOC-N).
The intercepted vessel is a 47-metre-long, 480-tonne RORO cargo ship flying the Panamanian flag.
Following a transfer by French Navy “marine patrol aircraft”, the interception was carried out approximately 300 km to the south-west of Conakry (Guinea). During the operation the crew, made up of nine sailors of various nationalities, threw a suspect package overboard, which the Tonnerre boats managed to retrieve. The package contained bundles of narcotic substances to a total weight of 3.2 tonnes, subsequently identified as cocaine.
The intercepted vessel is currently under the supervision of the crew of the Tonnerre. The operation was conducted in agreement with the Panamanian authorities. The French diplomatic services are maintaining contact with these authorities with a view to preparing judicial proceedings in this case.”
7.  After the intervention of the Navy team, the ship’s nine crew members were mustered on deck by the French marines, who verified their identities and inspected the vessel.
8.  At 1.07 a.m. on 8 February 2008 the commander of the Tonnerre received a telegram from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs informing him that the Panamanian authorities had acknowledged that the Junior was indeed sailing under their flag and recording their agreement to its boarding and inspection. The French Navy then carried out searches and seizures.
9.  On 9 February 2008 the Panamanian Ministry of External Relations sent the French Embassy a fax confirming authorisation to board and inspect the vessel, and also agreeing to transfer jurisdiction for the case to France.
10.  At 11.10 a.m. on 10 February 2008 the ship was diverted to Brest. Initially escorted by the Tonnerre, it sailed to a point approximately 60 km south of Dakar (Senegal) on 11 February.
11.  On 14 February 2008 a security patrol discovered and seized substances which were also identified as narcotics, namely cocaine and cannabis resin. On the same day, responsibility for the whole procedure was handed over to the commander of the ship responsible for escorting the Junior to Brest, the Ravi, a French Navy supply ship. The crew of the Junior were placed under the guard of twelve marines from the “reinforcement task force” (groupe d’intervention et de renfort).
12.  On 25 February 2008 the Junior arrived in Brest harbour. At 9.45 a.m. the commander of the Ravi handed over all the items seized and official reports, together with the Junior and the nine crew members, to the Brest public prosecutor.
13.  The public prosecutor launched a preliminary inquiry, to be jointly conducted by OCRTIS and the Rennes inter-regional police department.
14.  At 10.50 a.m. on the same day, the applicants were taken into police custody.
15.  On 26 February 2008 the public prosecutor extended the police custody for twenty-four hours after interviewing each of the applicants.
16.  On 27 February 2008 the applicants were presented individually to two judges responsible for civil liberties and detention matters (juges des libertés et de la détention) at the Brest tribunal de grande instance, who examined them and once again extended their police custody, as mentioned in a record drawn up at 9.30 a.m.
17.  While under police custody, the applicants, whose state of health was deemed compatible with this measure, were questioned on several occasions by the investigators through nine interpreters. They denied that they had committed the offences, with the exception of Mr Bardoulis, who confessed on 28 February. They were able to see a lawyer at 10.50 a.m. on 28 February.
18.  On 29 February 2008, the Brest public prosecutor transferred the case to the specialised inter-regional division of the Rennes tribunal de grande instance.
19.  On the same day the applicants were placed under formal investigation.
20.  On 5 December 2008, the Investigation Division of the Rennes Court of Appeal declared inadmissible the evidence exclusively relating to the applicants’ detention at sea, which primarily concerned records of their living conditions during their detention and of various types of medical treatment. On the other hand, the appeal judges rejected the requests to have other procedural steps declared void, including the applicant’s detention in police custody and their subsequent placement under formal investigation. They considered that the applicants had not been detained in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law, within the meaning of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention. In their view, the relevant international and national documents were vague about the nature and form of the coercive measures for which they provided, particularly in terms of detainees’ rights and supervision by a judicial authority within the meaning of Article 5 § 1. However, they considered that the applicants had been taken into police custody and placed under formal investigation on the basis of evidence which did not result from their detention at sea. Moreover, they considered that Article 5 § 3 of the Convention had not been violated, pointing out that the period of deprivation of liberty at sea had been justified by exceptional circumstances linked to the inevitable time required for the vessel to reach a French port. They added that the requirements of the investigations justified the individuals’ placement in custody for forty-eight hours before being brought before a judge responsible for detention matters, given the number of persons concerned and the need for interpreters for the different acts and steps in the proceedings.
21.  The applicants appealed to the Court of Cassation, alleging, inter alia, a violation of Article 5 §§ 1 and 3 of the Convention...
22.  By a judgment of 29 April 2009 the Court of Cassation dismissed the applicants’ appeals.
23.  On 8 February 2012 the Rennes Special Assize Court sentenced S. Vassis, Master of the Junior, to sixteen years’ imprisonment, and S. Thomas, First Mate, D. Bardoulis, Chief Engineer, and M. Da Costa Ardiles, to ten years’ imprisonment. The other crew members were acquitted. In addition, G.G., the African representative of the Greek owner of the ship, was sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment by the Assize Court.
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